Terra, I see it's time for your yearly Manon/Mayflower rant in this thread.
The truth is, most telescopes have some design quirks or flaws. This one isn't so bad compared to some. I have a half dozen of these, all with some degree of slop in the slow-motions, but it's a very rare mount that is slop-free regardless of maker. The only way to eliminate it is to pre-load the system, which adds expense. Just about all of my Japanese export scopes have weak parts or slop, somwhere. Even the more expensive ones aren't immune to slop or weak parts.
I've broken a plastic wing off of a Unitron screw, had to repair it. A metal wing also came off a Unitron screw and I had to re-solder it. I'll be more gentle with those from now on. And take the equatorial mount on the Swift 831, a telescope held in very high regard and a cut about the average Japanese export scope. That mount cannot be dynamically balanced with the RA slow-motion cable attached. I'm sure that's the reason slow-motions were not included on the 60mm Swift.
Even with the slop, I like the Manon mount. The scope is small enough that it's not going to be a problem 99% of the time. Once an object is acquired and centered, all the tracking motions are in the same direction so the slop isn't encountered until moved to a new object. Pretty much the same as most of these little scopes. And I've only seen one with a snapped DEC gear clamp, on the old HOC Frank traded.
A small useless finder is also par for these small scopes. I'd put the finder a cut above the finders on my little Microntas, and about half of the 60mm telescopes I own. I try to keep it in perspective. The tiny finders are perfectly adequate for the lunar and planetary targets these scopes were primarily intended for. I'm not going to condemn their Japanese designers for it.
One of the beat-up Manons I bought to restore cannot be restored to factory specs because the tube had been shortened by a prior owner, and the original tripod legs were replaced with a different style. I've already restored the mount head on that one and am keeping it as a multi-purpose mount for any number of 60mm OTAs. Despite it's shortcomings, it's a good mount, as such things go. Mine don't shake at high power and I'm not planning on over-tightening any clamps. Bet they outlast me.
